What food can never contain moggots?

[Kaoru]

I am very careful about the food I eat, have been for over ten years as I can't help my disgust with maggots, since first finding out they live in food. Even thought of them infesting food can meke me lose my appetite. I heard that most tropical fruits can never get them like coco-nuts and pineapples, but don't know for sure. I was told that before about other fruit like cherries etc. but came up.... disappointed, after seeing them there with my very eyes.

I'm most reluctant about eating chocolate and rice, being extremely difficult to spot maggots in rice in time.

Can you list nice tasting food that doesn't get maggots so that I won't be too skeptical about eating?

[Scythemantis]

Are you mental?. Seriously, this is the creepiest thing I've ever read here, and I'm not talking about the maggots. You sound obsessed with this, and it's absolutely ludicrous.

Hell, you don't sound like you understand what you're talking about.

Maggots are not hiding in food everywhere around you. In fact, it's a safe bet that they aren't hiding anywhere around you. There are no maggots in the grocery store or in your neighbor's refrigerator. Maggots are the larval stage (babies) of flies, and will be present only in something that has been left out for too long in warm weather where lots of flies can congregrate. Everything dead is equally vulnerable to this (so your question is completely pointless) but flies ALWAYS prefer to lay their eggs in something decayed. If flies are laying eggs in your food, it means the food was likely already spoiled rotten and wouldn't have been any good.

Furthermore, to eat maggots by accident you would have to be BLIND. They don't conceal themselves. The eggs are laid on the outside of matter and the larva immediately devour everything around them, creating huge and obvious cavities within seconds of hatching. In other words, there is no way you can possibly miss them. I have personally never seen maggots in food of any kind...only in garbage. I'm willing to bet that most other people can say the same, and I refuse to believe that you have ever witnessed it more than a handful of times.

I have only ever heard of one instance in which a consumer found maggots in chocolate, and rice is the last thing I would ever expect them in...rice does not smell strongly enough to attract flies. For maggots to ever be present in rice, it would have to contain meat or other foods and it would have to be left outside in the summertime for an entire day.

Seek help. This is clearly a very severe psychological problem with no realistic basis. Maggots aren't a common hazard, or even hazardous at all. They are the adolescent form of a wild animal that evolved to keep our planet clean and happens to do a fantastic job. Flies and their maggots, as the earth's most efficient scavengers, actually prevent major outbreaks of disease and are vital to our well-being.

[solarflere]

whyiscrowdpurpl: listen to Scythemantis, as he is the go to guy when it comes to insects, I think that is very cool. I just wanted to add something about maggots, they are actualy not very harmful to a person's health and are now used by hospitals to clean a body or infected wound from dead skin and bacteria. I mean yea, they look disgusting, but are helpfull is that situation.

I have only ever heard of maggots in chocolate once, in a news story, and rice is the last thing I would ever expect them in...rice does not smell strongly enough to attract flies. For maggots to ever be present in rice, it would have to contain meat or other foods and it would have to be left outside in the summertime for an entire day.I actualy don't see how maggots can be in chocolate at all.

[Scythemantis]

It's entirely possible, but not at all probable. It would be twice as likely that the "victims" are just con-artists looking for a lawsuit. If it did happen, it's very unusual.

Most maggots are actually aquatic (these are the ones we never encounter at all), and the common scavengers are still equipped for breathing in a fluid environment...dry, solid foods like chocolate, cereal or nuts are a poor nesting ground, and unlikely to entice flies.

[DarthGonzo]

...and if your eating rice, wouldnt it have just been cooked? If anything was living in that rice before, it would have been boiled alive.

[Artimus Gigan]

Yeah, if you cook the food it will kill anything, those two scenarios that you mentioned are pretty mcuh non-existant if not improbible.

However there is such things as bug candy, which are actual dead bugs covered in chocolate, it's rather good. There are also those worm pops which are dead worms sealed in a pop of assorted flavors(they are also the type of worms that are put in certain types of Tequiella bottles).

However eatting maggots wouldn't hurt you, infact some restarunts serve them with pasta, allthough they are cooked. But by all means the Deep Fried Tarantula on a stick is one of the more popular bug cuisine choices, allthough it's rather expensive to try.

[Lord Dalek]

salt.

[Artimus Gigan]

salt.
Someone could mistake Salt Crystals for lice

[Lord Dalek]

Someone could mistake Salt Crystals for liceYou've tried that too eh?

[Youko Recca]

One of the funniest threads I've read all day. Really, I've never heard about anything like this until now. And it's hilarious. How would maggots get in freshly cooked(maybe not even) food? I don't know.

This reminds me of a situation when I was a child. I couldn't eat Kix cereal for a long while because I thought they resembled these little Gremlin-like people from some form of media I can't exactly recall.

[The_NewCatwoman]

I've found mealworms in cereal occassionally but never a maggot... And I certainly don't want it to happen. *shudders at the thought of her worst imaginations*

tNC

[sdp]

you guys are being too harsh, he obviously has some type of phobia, but yes i do agree that you should take care of it, it is not some big problem, or anything but still, it just would be too hard to live that way.

If you think about it, EVERY food you'll ever find will not be perfect, maggots are not even your biggest concern, i won't even go there to not freak you out more but rest assured that things in stores are approved by the FDA so they are perfectly fine to eat.

[Scythemantis]

Salt? What is salt going to do to maggots? They're insects, not worms.

And who's being harsh? The guy claims he's watched what he eats for TEN YEARS because of this fear. A fear of something that never happens and can't harm you.

[Lord Dalek]

Well maybe he viewed The Green Death (http://forums.toonzone.net/showpost.php?p=1880987&postcount=1) as a kid and got a fear of GIANT MAGGOTS from that.

[EinBebop]

You seem to have a phobia of maggots.

I suggest you see the movie 'Poltergeist'. There's a scene in it that you will probably relate to.

[One Radical Dude]

Gee whillikers, guys. There was a maggot in my soup earlier. What ever shall I do? :rolleyes:

I've never heard of a fear of little critters inside the food. What kind of phobia would that be called?

[Scythemantis]

One thing I've always noticed regarding maggots: most people don't seem to know what they actually look like. Any time you see one up close (or giant-size) in a cartoon or horror film it has a gaping lamprey-like mouth or insect mandibles, when in reality they just look like walruses (which also use the same rippling mechanism to move about on land...a connection I find curiously fascinating. Yes, I equate walruses as giant mammalian sea-maggots) :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/scythemantis/madness/made70xa.jpg

Like the adult flies, they feed by secreting acid from their mouth and "drinking" the food (if you've ever watched one burrow right through decayed meat, that is some powerful acid). This is what reduces the area of infestation to mush rather quickly. Like other anatomically "aquatic" insects, they breathe through the anus, allowing them to "snorkel" with their head down in the food. The tusks are used only for gripping surfaces and helping the animal pull itself along.

What's interesting is how hated they are despite the fact that they don't hurt anybody (even the dirtiness of flies is highly exaggerated. I don't know of one single documented case of anyone ever getting ill because a fly landed on their food) and as the world's most plentiful and efficient scavengers, they are constantly preventing major outbreaks of disease. Then of course there's the medicinal use of maggots to clean wounds, which has saved lives (or at least limbs).

And yet, butterflies get nothing but praise when they contribute nothing to society and their caterpillars are more destructive than locusts.

[One Radical Dude]

That is way creepier than seeing them from a distance. The very first time I can remember actually being close to maggots was in a trash can on a very warm day. I couldn't bare to see all of them, and the smell -- do not wanna go there. I've definitely heard before that these critters can do something good for humans.

[Youko Recca]

*Idiotically revisits thread while having a bowl of clamchowder*

*Sees above picture*

*Looks down at half-eaten chowder bubbling*

*Loses appetite*


LOL.

[RD!]

I'm sometimes afraid (black) olives are really bugs with the innards ripped out.

Seriously. I don't know why. I'll eat one and imagine some gross beatle flying around and becoming an olive and my dinner being ruined.

The ironic thing is that I really love olives.

[Anniemaniac]

i agree with sdp. you guys need to quit critizising. he/she has a phobia, and phobias, however small and insignificant they may seem to u, can actually be very serious to the person with said phobia. its not something you should mock him/her for. :shrug:

whyiscrowdpurpl, i suggest you get some support of some kind to help you over come or help with your phobia. its very unlikely that u will ever across a maggot in your food. all food is checked, approved and insect free when they hit the food shops, so its perfectly edible.

[Artimus Gigan]

I'm sometimes afraid (black) olives are really bugs with the innards ripped out.

Seriously. I don't know why. I'll eat one and imagine some gross beatle flying around and becoming an olive and my dinner being ruined.

The ironic thing is that I really love olives.
I think it has to do with the texture

I mean take Calimari for instance, many people feel fine eating the calimari rings, but when it comes to the tenticals, alot of people hesitate.

[EinBebop]

all food is checked, approved and insect free when they hit the food shops, so its perfectly edible.You obviously never watch 60 minutes or any of those other news magazines.

[Scythemantis]

But that's just microscopic insect pieces. That "discovery" is ultimately pointless because just as many insect parts are in the air we breathe (not to mention whole, live arachnids in the form of microscopic mites)

Eating spiders in your sleep, however, is a myth. Spiders aren't stupid.

[Kaoru]

I've found mealworms in cereal occassionally but never a maggot... And I certainly don't want it to happen. *shudders at the thought of her worst imaginations*

tNC That's what I'm talking about, mealworms. You didn't think I meant earthworms did you?

I admit I rarely see worms in food, but I usually don't go farther to investigate if I see there are little holes there. I mostly have this problem with chocolate, because of current affair programs like 60 minutes and news reminding me of mealworms in chocolate. I usually guzzle fresh food like Subway and home cooked meals without much looking. Just today at school after I read some of your feedbacks I thought I may be a little on the insane side and opened a milky-way bar and saw it had a couple little holes going through the chocolate and into the filling and I just threw it away. I'm not making up there can be worms in food, but I might have been exaggerating a little bit in the first post. Sure it does not always happen, but there sure is a chance you'll eat something gross in chocolate or older fruit if you don't pay attention and I can't get over that. I don't bother looking for maggots in restaurants because I would look like a freak if I did that, and I know there are even worse things they can serve you there, neither do I look for them inside homemade sandwiches or cooked food, but I would never eat processed concentrate shelf food without alertness. I think that's reasonable enough though being unusual to someone like Scythemantis who apparently has a similar admirable feeling about insects as Steve Irwin has with small animals which I have nothing against.

But there are bigger problems in the world than the critters in food, such as the lack thereof etc. so let's drop this. Thanks for the help.

[solarflere]

I may be a little on the insane side and opened a milky-way bar and saw it had a couple little holes going through the chocolate and into the filling and I just threw it away.
You do realize that the candy bar was vacum sealed by its wraper, so there is no way that flies could ever land on the chocolate itself and get anything into the canybar. Yoy wasted a perfectly good milky-way bar.

[Tay the Cat]

You do realize that the candy bar was vacum sealed by its wraper, so there is no way that flies could ever land on the chocolate itself and get anything into the canybar. Yoy wasted a perfectly good milky-way bar.
One time, my dad opened a Snickers that had nails in it.

Moral: Just because somethingis vacuum-sealed doesn't mean anything.

[The Guitar Slayer]

The human body is surprisingly resilient. Additionally, we are geared to be omnivores -- we can eat anything that comes along. Remember, our lovely ancestors were the smart apes that fished grubs out of trees with sticks! Our stomach acid is strong enough to burn holes through the floor, so unless there is bacteria like e.coli, salmonella, or ebola or something, humans generally can stomach it without getting sick. So I wouldn't worry about eating bugs and stuff. Besides, everyone needs a little extra protein.

As for nails and razors and other nasty stuff found in food, there is a very low chance of encountering a disgruntled employee's handiwork, considering the sheer amount of mass production in the US. The FDA and USDA, as flawed as those two agencies are, have kept meat a lot cleaner and healthier than the scenes described in Upton Sinclaire's "The Jungle."

If something smells wrong or tastes off, stop eating it, throw it out, and let your stomach do its work -- watchful waiting. Otherwise, party on.

[Scythemantis]

Holes in chocolate are caused by air bubbles. I've never seen a candy bar without holes.

And mealworms feed exclusively on grain. Not the same thing as maggots.

Also if you're going to worry about animals in food, worry about the ones that continue living inside you. ALL pork and ALL beef contains tapeworm eggs, and I do very literally mean ALL. There aren't any standards for this because it's outright inconceivable to raise either animal parasite-free in the commercial industry and they are very easily killed by cooking.

[Kagetsu]

Holes in chocolate are caused by air bubbles. I've never seen a candy bar without holes.

And mealworms feed exclusively on grain. Not the same thing as maggots.

Also if you're going to worry about animals in food, worry about the ones that continue living inside you. ALL pork and ALL beef contains tapeworm eggs, and I do very literally mean ALL. There aren't any standards for this because it's outright inconceivable to raise either animal parasite-free in the commercial industry and they are very easily killed by cooking. They are killed by cooking, but I question the idea that all are subject to this because of the high antibiotics used in all meat animals. This is another problem of course, but parisites of any kind increase the time meat animals reach their slaughter weight, so they are actively fought against. Tape worms are an organ parisite the real danger in pigs and bears is triconosis which lives in the meat itself.

Truth be told, though it is discusting to think of, there is a level of insects in our food. It won't hurt you any more than the average amount of dirt we consume and contains more protein. Given survival, we would eat far worse that our stomachs and tastes would want to reject, but it won't kill us. I worry more about the chemicals in our water, yet I still drink it.

[Elven Moon]

I can understand your fears, as I suffer from a deadly food allergy and have to be SUPER careful with what I eat. But personally, I would see someone about this fear. You could make yourself sick from worry, trust me, I've done this myself.

If I were you I wouldn't move to Virginia. When I was little and lived there, in the summer we had huge gnat problems. Sometimes they'd get in your food if you ate outside.

[solarflere]

Holes in chocolate are caused by air bubbles. I've never seen a candy bar without holes.

And mealworms feed exclusively on grain. Not the same thing as maggots.

Also if you're going to worry about animals in food, worry about the ones that continue living inside you. ALL pork and ALL beef contains tapeworm eggs, and I do very literally mean ALL. There aren't any standards for this because it's outright inconceivable to raise either animal parasite-free in the commercial industry and they are very easily killed by cooking.Yea, tapeworms are the nastiest parasites, feasting on thigh muscles and occasionally getting lodged in the brain (nothing anibiotics can't cure if you catch the problem in time). That is why I refuse to eat red meat if it still has trases of blood there. A lot of restaraunts like Outback actualy serve Rare steak, Well Done for me thanks.

[Kagetsu]

I'm not sure what you're thinking of, but tape worms don't feast on muscle. Segmented flat worms found in the digestive tract of vertibrates. The eggs and segments are past in stool (turds) :sad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_worm

I can't tink of any parasites that pass directly through beef. Pork is another matter

[solarflere]

I'm not sure what you're thinking of, but tape worms don't feast on muscle. Segmented flat worms found in the digestive tract of vertibrates. The eggs and segments are past in stool (turds) :sad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tape_worm

I can't tink of any parasites that pass directly through beef. Pork is another matterThey do actualy. Mostly animal Muscle, but human thighs are simular.
Taenia saginata : The Beef Tapeworm
Taenia solium : The Pork Tapeworm

"Therefore, if someone harbours a pork tapeworm, they pose a risk to themselves and others around them of developing cysticercosis. These cycticerci may lodge in the brain, eye or muscle, causing serious problems."
http://home.austarnet.com.au/wormman/wltape.htm
(http://home.austarnet.com.au/wormman/wltape.htm)

[Kagetsu]

Ah yes, didn't have this in bio class, but I did a little digging, occurs mostly in rural developing countries where animals are allowed to consume human feces :p (yuck) Probably why it is difficult to bring un tested meat into the country.

It doesn't sound like the cysts are active worms but are more like scar tissue, but I may not be understanding all of it.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/cysticercosis/factsht_cysticercosis.htm

[solarflere]

Ah yes, didn't have this in bio class, but I did a little digging, occurs mostly in rural developing countries where animals are allowed to consume human feces :p (yuck) Probably why it is difficult to bring un tested meat into the country.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/cysticercosis/factsht_cysticercosis.htm The reason how I knew that tapeworm loves muscle tissue, is because of an episode of House, where one woman had a tapeworm in her brain, but they could not find it, so they located one in her thigh, and proved their diagnosis. I just had to find a source to show it. And they say TV does not teach us anything. :p I love House, because everything medicaly wise there is true.

[Kagetsu]

The big scare at the moment is mad cow disease, thanks to the meat industry using "protein enhanced" (animal remains) feeds. :sad:

[Tenku]

Well, seeing that I wolf my food down, I probably won't know.

Oddly, when did a dissection on a frog, and saw its intestines, I said, "I'd better not have spaghetti tonight." Guess what happened? :p

For the record, that bug creeps me out and at the same time, made me laugh. :sweat:

[Scythemantis]

Actually, the ultimate goal of being passed in feces is so the eggs can be picked up by other grazers and burrow into their tissues to be picked up by predators. That way, they're gaurunteed to be spread all over the world.

I found a SWEET diagram! RAD!

http://sps.k12.ar.us/massengale/tapeworm.gif

[Kagetsu]

(There may not be an "Ewww" loud enough for this thread) :p

So to get the cysts you have to eat feces contaminated whatever, and "unwashed fertilized" vegetables can do that, but feces from an infected carivore, (or self infection, lets not go there) :p but to get the worms, you eat the cysts in the meat?

[Artimus Gigan]

Actually, the ultimate goal of being passed in feces is so the eggs can be picked up by other grazers and burrow into their tissues to be picked up by predators. That way, they're gaurunteed to be spread all over the world.

I found a SWEET diagram! RAD!

http://sps.k12.ar.us/massengale/tapeworm.gif
Like tiny ketchup packets of death...

However, you have a better chance of getting mugged than catching a tapeworm IIRC, I eat meat on a weekly baisis and I usualy have it be medium rare and I've never caught anything.

Still if you want to talk about gross parasites, the nasal leech is one of the worst offenders. Obviously the thing holes up in your nose, and occasionaly sticks part of itself out of your nostril. The Only way to remove it is to clamp and pull once it sticks part of itself out.

[solarflere]

Scythemantis seems to be enjoying this. :p

[Kagetsu]

Still if you want to talk about gross parasites,
The Botfly gets my vote

[solarflere]

Hookworms hands down. Those things can get into your body though your skin.

http://www.hsu.com/images/parasite/hookworms.jpg

[One Radical Dude]

Scythemantis seems to be enjoying this. :p

After seeing your last entry on this thread, I'd have to say the same about you! :p

Jeez, at the rate things are going, I'm probably gonna lose my appetite.

[Master Moron]

Man, that picture of that maggot on page one freaked me out. I'm gonna have nightmares about that freakin' thing. But, you know, I think I've seen an episode of Survivor where they ate maggots for protein, so they can't be that bad for you.

[Scythemantis]

There is no actual "nasal leech", that's just what any bloodsucking leech will do if it happens to get into your nose.

My favorite parasites are the various "puppeteers" and controllers, especially the parasitic barnacle that attacks crabs. The female sheds most of her own body and becomes just a "blob" that enters a crab and grows into a network of "roots". It alters the crab's behavior and even body shape in ways that benefit the parasite, including a new orifice on the crab's back through which a male barnacle can enter and fuse with the female. Regardless of the crab's sex, it will start to carry the parasite's eggs as if they were its own, even fiercely defending them and keeping them oxygenated.

America, by the way, is the most parasite-ridden country in the world by a huge margin. We have more worms than the rest of the planet combined (including our immediate neighbors) and it's becoming increasingly evident that this is often the true cause for our seemingly "natural" but frustrating health problems, from obesity and asthma to insomnia and chronic stress. It may sometimes even be the result of your parents having had parasites.

[Artimus Gigan]

There is no actual "nasal leech", that's just what any bloodsucking leech will do if it happens to get into your nose.

No, there's an actual specie of nasal leech.It's adapted to live preferibly in the nostrils of large animals that gather by watering holes. But there have been cases of people getting them up their nose when they drink from outside water sources. It's also a fast growing(it's not all that big to begin with), a normal leech usualyy after being gorged with blood just drops off, but a nasal leech continues to grow inside the host's nasal passages and can live there for weeks to even months. If it gets big you will feel it touching the part of your mouth that the nasal passages are connected to.

[randomguy]

America, by the way, is the most parasite-ridden country in the world by a huge margin. We have more worms than the rest of the planet combined (including our immediate neighbors) and it's becoming increasingly evident that this is often the true cause for our seemingly "natural" but frustrating health problems, from obesity and asthma to insomnia and chronic stress. It may sometimes even be the result of your parents having had parasites.Interesting assertion. Because you've genuinely picqued my curiousity... exactly why is America such a parasite-ridden nation? Is it merely a result of geography (i.e., there are a lot of parasites native to the American continent) or is it a lifestyle thing?

And if you could offer any sources or backup for your second claim, I'd be interested in looking at them. Not pushing you or anything, but it's an interesting notion and I'd like to read further into the matter beyond "some guy on a forum told me so."

[Scythemantis]

Parasitologist Carl Zimmer talks about it in his book, "Parasite Rex", though only for a couple of pages - it's a book about zoology, not human health.

It's probably a lifestyle thing. Microscopic worm eggs can be left anywhere at all by human hands, just like any other "germ", but most people think they'lle only ever get parasites by poor eating habits or poor hygiene, if they even think about them at all.

There used to be some good websites on the subject but now all I can find are scores of sites using it as a scare-tactic to hock questionable remedies.

[Kagetsu]

Hmm, there was that recent thread on the rise of bedbugs in cities, and the increase in rockymountian spotted fever attributed to deer ticks. Grew up playing in woods and learned early to check for ticks. Common dog ticks were all I ever found till a few years ago after hiking in the Fort Frederick area. Lice never entirely go away, they can't exist anywhere but a human host. All of these have little to do with hygene and are parasites. So it's not necessarily food born. Though it's not perfect, I'd still put or food system ahead of the rest of the world.

As most worm cycles need a specific cycle like using "unusual" fertilizer, and require an active host to spread, there's no way I buy the US as more "worm ridden" than more tropical neighbors.

[solarflere]

One Parasite I would never hold a grudge against are leeches. As they hold the cure in their saliva against blood clotting. Sure they are blood suckers, but its better that taking blood thinners that have a potential to give you a stroke.

BTW, going to an earlier conversation, I just read an article in Maxim Magazine that Mad Cow desease in '05 has killed 176 people world wide, 3 of them were Americans, 2 of them were cows.:anime: So there is nothing to worry about. The same goes for Bird Flu. There are thousands of people who die from the regular Flu in the US. While the Bird Flu has killed nearly a hundred world wide. So no need to worry about any pandemic happaning here.

[Scythemantis]

Another thing about leeches is that most species aren't bloodsuckers at all, but predators of other worms and insects.

They also have 27 brains and carry their babies around on their backs.

It is outright despicable how people blow diseases way out of proportion. That's exactly right...the bird flu is JUST a flu. It's not a superbug. Same with SARs.



As most worm cycles need a specific cycle like using "unusual" fertilizer, and require an active host to spread, there's no way I buy the US as more "worm ridden" than more tropical neighbors.

That's kinda the whole point though...that people expect these worms to be more exotic than they actually are.

[solarflere]

It is outright despicable how people blow diseases way out of proportion. That's exactly right...the bird flu is JUST a flu. It's not a superbug. Same with SARs.
Well SARS killed a bit over a thousand mostly in China and some in other Asian contries, but it has been COMPLETELY eradicated now. There is no more SARS. Every government took the threat seriously and stoped it dead in its tracks.

[Kagetsu]

:sweat:As we get to viruses, we get to my interest. While not superbugs, both have the potential. I'm not sure why this bird flu is getting such attention, but they seem to be thinking along the idea of the 1918 (?) flu pandemic, which was almost a perfect killer. SARS was of such interest because it killed and spread quickly. And I've heard nothing of it being iradicated.

[solarflere]

:sweat:As we get to viruses, we get to my interest. While not superbugs, both have the potential. I'm not sure why this bird flu is getting such attention, but they seem to be thinking along the idea of the 1918 (?) flu pandemic, which was almost a perfect killer. SARS was of such interest because it killed and spread quickly. And I've heard nothing of it being iradicated.As the article states (and they don't lie) SARS is gone now. There are no documented cases of people still in treatment or infected by it.

Currently, there is no known SARS transmission anywhere in the world. The most recent human cases of SARS-CoV infection were reported in China in April 2004 in an outbreak resulting from laboratory-acquired infections (see Laboratory Biosafety (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/lab/biosafety.htm) for more details). http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars/situation.htm

Bird Flu is of cource a more resistant strain of flu, and its deadlier, but there is a very low risk of getting it since it does not infect humans directly. As I stated before, compared to the regular flu, it practicaly poses no threat at all. I saw a Fox5 expose on it, and they went to a lot of doctors who studyed it, and they say the same thing.

About the superbugs, every bacteria has the potential. With a widened use of Anibiotics for people who need them, and don't need them (where another treatment could take a bit longer but just as effectrive), we abuse the drugs. The bacteria becomes resistant to the antibiotics, it mutates. So what do doctors do? They increase the dosage, and increase some more, and some more after that untill the current antibiotic has lost its effect on the bacteria that has been mutated by us into a superbug. What makes a becteria into a superbug, resistance to all current treatment.

[Kagetsu]

I usually think of level 4 viruses like ebola as superbugs, but the bacteria, while not as transmitive as a virus are becoming a danger. last I heard there is a staf that can only be stopped one very powerful antibiotic, after that,we're in real trouble again.

[solarflere]

I usually think of level 4 viruses like ebola as superbugs, but the bacteria, while not as transmitive as a virus are becoming a danger. last I heard there is a staf that can only be stopped one very powerful antibiotic, after that,we're in real trouble again.Speaking of ebola, currently its no threat as well. The article talked about it as well. That and anthrax that was mailed to people is also no threat to public health. Ebola might be considered a superbug, but its not in any situation to infect anyone. There are no cases of infection in the US and verry little in the world. Last known outbreak of ebola was in 2002 in Republic of the Congo.

[Scythemantis]

It's really distressing to think about how we're only making things worse in the long run with our modern sanitation methods and germ-concious ways.

I myself was an abormally clean child...hated playing dirty, constantly washed my hands...and I'm paying for it with a crap immune system, which would get passed down to my kids, too, if I had any.

Balance really is the key to everything, and sooner or later we're going to need some sort of slob-revolution.

[Kagetsu]

It's really distressing to think about how we're only making things worse in the long run with our modern sanitation methods and germ-concious ways.

After seeing a show that speculated that the increase in child asthma and other allergic reaction may have been becouse we no longer have contact with farm animals exposing us to germs to give the immune system training and that survivors of the plague helped reduce genetic suseptablility to "bad bugs, it would tend to make you think that more exposure would be good. Of course the flip side of that is the benefits come from a high general mortality rate "darwining" the weak elements. :shrug:

[One Radical Dude]

I do think that the "Bird Flu" deal is overblown by the media. Of course, it isn't something to take lightly, either, because influenza can claim lives.

[solarflere]

I do think that the "Bird Flu" deal is overblown by the media. Of course, it isn't something to take lightly, either, because influenza can claim lives.But can influenza can infect people, while Avien "bird" Flu can not directly infect a human being.

[Kagetsu]

But can influenza can infect people, while Avien "bird" Flu can not directly infect a human being.

From what I have understood of the flu cycle, it could, "if",,,

Humans can't catch bird flu but most flu resevoirs in birds, pigs catch bird flu and human flu,,, bird flu becomes human flu when they mutate in pigs with both.

[solarflere]

From what I have understood of the flu cycle, it could, "if",,,

Humans can't catch bird flu but most flu resevoirs in birds, pigs catch bird flu and human flu,,, bird flu becomes human flu when they mutate in pigs with both.That, and some other ways like ingesting the infected bird and a few others. But all of those are highly unlikely.

[sun]

for a short time I worked at a YMCA, and they had a vending machine..The Y had a residence where people lived. I was assistant manager (it was a short job, in between school assignments ) Anyway, one of the worst residents came down one day, and said that the candy he bought from the vending machine and he ate had maggots in it..
,,,Of course I thought he was nuts, so I told him I would look into it................................Down to the vending machine I went, put in my dime....it was a while ago, and out came the candy he said he had ate..
Guess what, he was right, there were worms crawling throughout the candy bar. It was something with chocolate and nuts...No they were not maggots. but they were something that crawed into the candy at the place that stored the candy before it was delivered to our vending machine...They guy wanted his money back for the emergancy room that he went to (I guess he had it coming but the big boss said no) He had to have his stomach pumped........
...I called the FDA, and said those kinds of worms were common were candy with nuts and chocolcate are stored..(If the storage place is not kept perfectly clean.)
.....So, cross off chocolate and nuts off the list..they may contain worms...Boy were they ugly..Every candy bar in that vending machine with nuts and chocolate had worms..No, I am not making this up...I called the FDA, and they said yes those woorms were very common, and no they could not hurt you...It was the Vending Companies fault. and we needed fresh stuff.......So, no chocolates and nuts..did I ruin your dinner?...Sorry, but I was looking back at this...and had to tell this story..My Boss later fired me, and got rid of that guy that found the worms...It was a lot of fun...................................Stuart...I guess I shouldn't have brought this back, but this is true, and I had to tell the story, it is hard to believe but it is true..
....

[Scythemantis]

Going to the hospital and getting your STOMACH PUMPED because you accidentally ate a couple of tiny bugs is the most idiotic, outrageous thing I have ever heard. That's like getting your stomach pumped because there was a hair or a leaf in your sandwich.

I wish he was beaten with a stick. Seriously, it angers me that someone would have such an overblown reaction. How can anybody be that ridiculous.

Going to the hospital at all for it is already pretty freaking stupid.

The only thing worse was a woman years back who accidentally swallowed some ants, so she thought she had to drink insecticide.

[solarflere]

Going to the hospital and getting your STOMACH PUMPED because you accidentally ate a couple of tiny bugs is the most idiotic, outrageous thing I have ever heard. That's like getting your stomach pumped because there was a hair or a leaf in your sandwich.

I wish he was beaten with a stick. Seriously, it angers me that someone would have such an overblown reaction. How can anybody be that ridiculous.

Going to the hospital at all for it is already pretty freaking stupid.

The only thing worse was a woman years back who accidentally swallowed some ants, so she thought she had to drink insecticide.Well, on the defence, if you don't know that worms they were, or what bacteria they can have, to be on a safe side, and go to the hospital is the smartest choice. I would have done the same thing. I rather go through the unpleasent prosedute of getting my stomach pumped, than worry what could happan if I didn't.

[Kagetsu]

I can understand the guy overreacting, I can't understand why the doctors weren't smart enough not to pump his stomach :sad: Most of the survival books I've read suggested cooking insects because of possible parasites, but still stomach pumping is just silly.

[solarflere]

I can understand the guy overreacting, I can't understand why the doctors weren't smart enough not to pump his stomach :sad: Most of the survival books I've read suggested cooking insects because of possible parasites, but still stomach pumping is just silly.It all depends on what he told them. To cover thair onw buts, they would rather pump his stomach then deal with the consequenses.

[Kagetsu]

It all depends on what he told them. To cover thair onw buts, they would rather pump his stomach then deal with the consequenses.
Yea, I can see them doing that just to keep him happy. You'd think epicak would work better :p

[Boomhauer]

One thing I've always noticed regarding maggots: most people don't seem to know what they actually look like. Any time you see one up close (or giant-size) in a cartoon or horror film it has a gaping lamprey-like mouth or insect mandibles, when in reality they just look like walruses (which also use the same rippling mechanism to move about on land...a connection I find curiously fascinating. Yes, I equate walruses as giant mammalian sea-maggots) :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v688/scythemantis/madness/made70xa.jpg

Like the adult flies, they feed by secreting acid from their mouth and "drinking" the food (if you've ever watched one burrow right through decayed meat, that is some powerful acid). This is what reduces the area of infestation to mush rather quickly. Like other anatomically "aquatic" insects, they breathe through the anus, allowing them to "snorkel" with their head down in the food. The tusks are used only for gripping surfaces and helping the animal pull itself along.

What's interesting is how hated they are despite the fact that they don't hurt anybody (even the dirtiness of flies is highly exaggerated. I don't know of one single documented case of anyone ever getting ill because a fly landed on their food) and as the world's most plentiful and efficient scavengers, they are constantly preventing major outbreaks of disease. Then of course there's the medicinal use of maggots to clean wounds, which has saved lives (or at least limbs).

And yet, butterflies get nothing but praise when they contribute nothing to society and their caterpillars are more destructive than locusts.

Wooooo-tang! Damn, that maggot is ugly. You basically don't wanna leave a pot of rice out for more than 3 days, yo. Tellin' you.

whyiscrowdpurpl, even if you ate maggots, it ain't gonna kill ya. Just don't down a plate of spoiled food, though. I tell ya one creepy thing for sure, weeks ago when I came home from a week of being away, there was some yellow rice in the sink. As I proceed to brush the rice into the drain, that damn rice crawled away seperating from each other. I was like "haa-daaaaaaaayum!" I was about to run out the house yo. Dang ol' living thing in my sink and all.